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political rights, so that he may fully realize his inherent potential and share equally in
life, liberty and happiness. Green, Gaines and Sandgrund refer to child abuse and
neglect as a "dysfunction in parenting" and Giesmar calls them "the most virulent kinds
of faulty socialization" (Cook & Bowles 1980 : 20).
The abuse of children must be seen as part of a wider problem, i.e. family dysfunction,
which in turn is part of a community problem, in other words, a problem for the whole
society. Upbringing is primarily a matter of personal relationships, which come into
being when actualising educational aims, and could be quaIified as educational
dynamics (Van Niekerk 1990 : 39).
The parents and the child grow together within the context of a mutually fulfilling
relationship, and lay the foundation for the trials of life which inevitably follow. In a
healthy, reciprocal relationship, the parent reaps the rewards of knowing that he is a
good parent and is able to meet all his child's needs. The reality is, however, that not
all children experience this nurturing environment. It occurs not only when children
are separated from their biological parents, but also when both are physically present,
but psychologically distant. The reality is also, that "being a parent is not a right but
a privilege, and that being valued and protected as a child is not merely a privilege but
a right" (Pawl 1984 : 264).
When the adult, who is the more responsible person, does not take care that the
conditions for adequate education are met, the child is usually affectively, cognitively
and normatively neglected. The adult's "neglect of duty" especially lies in his failure
to carry out the educative task as he ought to, and consequently allowing the
fundamental pedagogical structures to be inadequately realised (Van Niekerk 1987 :
11).
Whenever an educator and a child communicate inadequately, all the acts of
upbringing itselfarenecessarilyperformedinadequately.Thepedagogically inadequate
actualisation of the child's psychic life is the inevitable result. A distressful educational
situation gives rise to experiences fraught with unfavourable meanings for the child,
e.g. with feelings of extreme and uncalled for anxiety, loneliness, insecurity,